


What we deserve

by ExtraSteps



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Cuddles, First Kiss, Liam has to be convinced that Brett wants him, M/M, Self-Doubt, trigger warning: panic attack
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-14
Updated: 2019-05-14
Packaged: 2020-03-05 09:22:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18825796
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ExtraSteps/pseuds/ExtraSteps
Summary: Brett's attempts to make Liam jealous have backfired in a huge way. Theo gives the two of them a nudge in the right direction.





	What we deserve

The sun was unbearably hot and Liam sighed, sitting up from his sun lounge to grab the sunscreen. Sure, werewolves could heal really quickly, but that didn't mean that getting burned was much fun. It was easier to put sunscreen on than suffer through a night of feverishly hot skin.

He rubbed it across his chest as his mind wandered, eyes moving around the enormous outdoor pool that he was at with his friends. Corey and Mason had snuck off a while ago now, Nolan was chatting up one of the swimsuit-clad life guards and Brett was lounging around on a massive tire in the deep end of the pool, sunnies covering his eyes while he dozed in the sun.

Liam's eyes stayed on him for a few moments, skimming down over those washboard abs of his. He shook his head and turned away before he could be caught staring. A throat cleared next to him and he jumped, head twisting as he looked at Theo.

"Enjoying the view?" He murmured, shooting him one of those evil smirks of his.

Liam scowled at him. "I have no idea what you mean," he scoffed, squirting more sunscreen into his hand and looking down while he rubbed it into his legs.

"I'm sure," Theo said, in a tone of voice that made it clear that the teasing would not be ending anytime soon. "Hey, what's that on your mouth?"

His hand flew to it automatically, and he glared at Theo when he found nothing there. "You asshole," he complained.

"Sorry," Theo snickered. "Thought there was a bit of drool there."

"Oh fuck off," he muttered, cheeks flushing as his annoyance grew. Of all people to catch him checking out Brett, did it have to be his insufferable housemate?

Theo leaned back in his chair, his eyes now moving to Brett. "I get it, I suppose. He's pretty attractive."

"He can also almost definitely hear you," Liam pointed out through gritted teeth. He didn't think he was imagining at amused smile curling at the edges of his lips.

Liam rolled his eyes. Brett knew full well that he was hot. He had people, both men and women, hurling themselves at him at every opportunity. He never lacked for dance partners on the nights they all went to Sinema, trading kisses with complete strangers in the middle of the dance floor while Liam watched on, feeling depressed.

His phone buzzed and he looked down, startled. It was a text from Theo. He glanced at him, seeing the grin on his lips and he sneered at him, unlocking his phone and reading the text.

_ ~~I dare you to kiss him. _

_ ~~No. He sent back. He's not interested in me. _

Theo snorted. _~~Oh please. He's always flirting with you and trying to make you jealous. It's obvious._

Liam frowned. What did he mean, Brett was trying to make him jealous?

_~~He is not_. He insisted. I _f he was interested in me, he'd ask me out, not go hook up with randoms every single weekend._

"You're an idiot," Theo said out loud. "A complete moron. I'm so glad I'm not the poor sap who's completely besotted with you."

"Right," Liam snarked. "Cause you're only besotted with yourself."

"Not the point, Liam," he sighed, not rising to the bait. Liam's ire fell away at the pitying look on Theo's face. "You could have something special, and instead you're just sitting here letting the possibility of it slip between your fingers."

Doubt struck him. It didn't seem like Theo was trying to set him up for failure, but he just couldn't equate the idea of Brett Talbot being interested in him. It didn't make sense. He was just Liam, and Brett was... well he was Brett Talbot. Cool, self-assured, and calm; the complete antithesis of Liam. The two of them, they just didn't fit, no matter how much he wanted them to.

"You don't know what you're talking about," he said quietly, glancing over at Brett and then back at Theo. "He doesn't like me like that."

"How would you know that unless you try?" Theo asked, sounding frustrated. "Just try, Liam."

He studied Theo's face, stomach fluttering with butterflies. He sounded so sure, and Liam wanted to believe him, but it just sounded too good to be true.

"How?" He breathed.

Theo looked into his eyes. "Go over there and kiss him, Liam. And if he says he's not into you, then fine, I drop it forever. But I know for a fact that he won't."

Liam wavered.

"Go on," Theo said softly. "What do you have to lose?"

"My dignity," he shot back. "My friendship with him." My heart, he added silently.

Because the truth of it was, he was in love with Brett. His whole life, Brett Talbot had been the shining pinnacle of everything he wanted to be. When he was younger, he'd confused that for admiration. It was only as he'd gotten older and realised that he wasn't really into girls as much as he'd originally expected that he'd understood his feelings for what they really were. Admiration, yes, but also desire, longing, and over time, love. Brett was strong, and resilient, and a bit of a dick to be sure, but he was loyal as hell and had always been willing to help Liam.

Theo grumbled. "You're hopeless." He took a few deep breaths, pinching the bridge of his nose. When he looked at Liam again, his gaze was sharp. "What would you say right now if I told you I was in love with you and then tried to kiss you."

Liam stared at him, incredulous. Theo liked him? "I'd tell you that you're insane," he sputtered. "You don't like me."

"What a polite way of letting me down," Theo frowned. "Good thing I have no emotions, Liam."

Guilt sank low in his gut, making him feel nauseous. "Shit, sorry," he said frantically. "I just meant that you're like ridiculously self-assured and good-looking. Why the hell would you like someone like me?"

He frowned deeper, the meaning of Theo's words sinking in. "And what do you mean, you have no emotions? You do so!"

Theo waved him off, looking at him incredulously.

"You have no idea, do you?"

"About what?"

"Yourself, how others react to you, how hot you are, any of it, do you?" Theo pressed.

Liam squirmed, feeling deeply uncomfortable. "I have no idea what you're talking about," he insisted. "No one's interested in me like that."

Theo glared at him. "There are, as we speak, three girls and two guys swooning over you."

"What? Where?" Liam asked, head swivelling around, eyes widening.

Theo groaned. "Subtle, idiot."

Liam glared at him. "You said-"

"I know what I said," Theo interrupted him. "Just, chill out a bit would you. Wait a minute."

Liam scowled but did as he bid.

After a minute or two had passed, Theo moved a bit closer to him. "See that girl over there, sitting at the edge of the pool?" He murmured. Liam followed the tilt of his chin, seeing a pretty blonde girl with two pigtails in a purple bikini.

"Yeah, what about her?" He asked.

"She's been staring at you for at least the past ten minutes," Theo said. "Wait for it-"

They both watched as she glanced up at them and then flushed, immediately looking away. Liam frowned.

"How do you know she's looking at me?" He objected quietly. "She's probably looking at you."

"I only just got here, moron. She's been looking over here a lot longer than that," Theo pointed out.

Liam still wasn't convinced. "If you say so," he said doubtfully.

"There's also those two girls over there by the kiddie pool," Theo said, indicating to the right. Liam looked over, seeing two girls sitting on their towels, leaning up on their elbows. The taller one met his gaze, licking her lips, while the other blushed. Liam stared at them, feeling his cheeks heat. "If you keep looking at them like that, they're gonna come over here," Theo whispered into his ear.

Liam whirled to look at him. "What?" He hissed.

Theo rolled his eyes. "You seriously have no experience at this, do you?"

"No," he said sullenly. "Hayden took pity on me, I think."

Theo wrinkled up his nose but didn't respond, and Liam looked back out at the pool, deliberately ignoring the eyes he could now feel on him from the right, feeling the itch to put a shirt on or something.

"You said there were guys as well," Liam said.

Theo nodded. "Yep, one of them is the lifeguard on the other side of the pool."

Liam looked over. He blanched. "Garrett? Seriously?"

"You know him?" Theo asked, eyebrows raising, a grin tugging at his lips. "Well, well."

"He's on the lacrosse team," Liam mumbled, flushing again. "His shirts are too tight."

"He's probably trying to impress you," Theo pointed out. "Flexing his muscles and all that. He's cute, if blondes are your thing."

Liam looked at Garrett, trying not to be obvious about it and probably failing miserably. It was weird to think of one of his teammates having a crush on him. Garrett was loud and sarcastic and good at pretty much anything, and he knew it too. Liam had always sort of thought he was arrogant. No one who talked about themselves that much was really worth the time of day.

"Doesn't he have a girlfriend?" He mused.

He vaguely recalled a dark skinned girl hanging off his arm in the hallways.

"Open relationship," Theo shrugged.

Liam shot him a sharp look. "How would you know?"

Theo smirked. "None of your business."

He wondered which one he'd hooked up with. Violet or Garrett. _Maybe both_ , he shuddered. They were way too intense for his liking.

“Who’s the other one?”

Theo glanced at him. “What?”

“The other guy,” Liam huffed. Theo rolled his eyes.

“I would’ve thought that was obvious.”

He got up and walked off, leaving Liam looking at the pool, chewing on his lower lip. His eyes slid over to where Brett was still lounging on the inflatable tire, sunglasses hiding his expression. The scent of chlorine also meant that Liam couldn’t scent his emotions either. 

He heard a scoff, Theo drawing his gaze. He glared over at Liam, but slowly it turned into a smirk. Liam felt his stomach flutter. That look never boded well for him. 

“Go on, I dare you, Dunbar. You won’t, you’ve changed.”

Liam narrowed his eyes, bristling. Theo grinned and turned away.

Garrett wasn’t looking at Liam anymore. He was far more interested in flirting with the chimera. Liam studied them a moment longer before looking back at Brett and squaring his shoulders.

This would be easy, right? Just go up to Brett, tell him he likes him and then kiss the living daylights out of him. They live happily ever after, the end.

Sure, his own mind replied sarcastically, because that’s how it works in the real world.

But he got up anyway, walking to the deep end of the pool and taking a deep breath right before he dived in.

The water was cool on his heated skin, and he gave a sigh of relief as his head broke the water. Liam flicked his hair out of his eyes and started swimming towards Brett, hoping that this wouldn’t backfire on him too badly.

Liam reached Brett and tread water, looking up at him. He took a deep breath and opened his mouth.

“I’m not interested,” Brett said flatly.

The air left his lungs in a sharp exhale, his chest sinking like lead. 

“What?” He gasped.

Brett didn’t look down at him, didn’t really even acknowledge him. Liam felt his eyes welling up with tears and he panicked a little, looking over to Theo, his face stricken.

Theo looked concerned. Liam crumpled.

“Sorry,” he whispered. “I’ll just-”

Brett interrupted him again. “You’re so ready to believe that, aren’t you?” He mused. Liam fixed his eyes on Brett’s fingers trailing in the water, his mind thick and slow, like he was wading through waist-deep mud. It took a few long moments for Brett’s words to sink in.

“What?” He repeated, eyes shooting up, following the path of Brett’s hand as he reached up to pull off his sunglasses. He looked annoyed; his eyebrows drawn.

“Why are you so ready to believe that you’re not good enough for anyone?” The wolf asked, his eyes intense as they bored into Liam’s. 

He shrank back, looking around wildly like he could somehow escape this conversation. But there was literally nowhere to go, they were in the middle of the pool.

“Liam,” Brett said firmly.

Liam closed his eyes, taking a deep, shuddering breath. “I don’t know,” he admitted in a small voice. 

He could feel Brett’s eyes on him. Part of him wanted to preen under the attention. The rest of him, however, wanted to recoil at how arrogant it had been to even consider that someone like Brett would return his interest. His breath started coming faster as he spiralled deeper and deeper, sinking like a stone. His brain stalled, the world shrinking in on him, heart thundering in his ears.

Distantly, he noted hands on his shoulders, being moved through the water and then lifted up.

_I’m having a panic attack_ , he realised. But it felt like he was looking down on his body, powerless.

He gasped suddenly as pain blossomed in his arm, shocked into clarity. Liam met the clearest blue eyes with his own, staring into them.

“You’re okay,” Brett said gently. “You’re alright, Liam. That’s it, breathe with me.”

He mimicked his long, deep breaths, shivering slightly as his body recovered from the adrenaline spike, his arm healing slowly where Brett had cut into the skin.

“I’m okay,” he said eventually, shame colouring his cheeks, making his eyes drop. He was sitting on the edge of the pool with Brett in front of him, standing between his legs. Any other time he would have been thrilled at his close proximity. Right now, though, he wanted to be anywhere else.

“I want to go home,” he said, exhausted suddenly, his body too heavy to keep up.

“I’ll drive you,” Brett offered.

Liam nodded, and Brett moved away and to the side, pulling himself out of the pool. Then he was behind Liam, lifting him up and helping him to walk back over to his stuff. They gathered it up silently, and Brett grabbed his things as well, staying right by his side the whole time and shooting him concerned looks that Liam ignored. He just wanted to get into his bed in a blanket burrito and never leave it again.

Brett drove him home, the silence between them filled with tension. But when they got to his house, the wolf pulled over and got out of the car, taking his stuff from him and indicating for Liam to lead the way.

He unlocked the door. No one else was home, for which Liam was grateful. One look at his mum’s concerned face and he would have crumpled immediately. He was barely holding it together as it was.

“Have a shower,” Brett said, gently guiding him into his room and placing a fresh towel in his hands. “I’ll be right here if you need me.”

Liam shot him a funny look but he was too weary to argue. He stepped into his bathroom and turned on the shower, kicking off his board shorts and getting in with a sigh.

Time passed and he stared blankly at the tiles in front of him, the water massaging his neck and shoulders. It turned cold. He barely noticed. Not until it was shut off and he was being bundled into a towel.

“Come on,” Brett said softly. Liam had never heard him speak so gently before, so tenderly, and he looked up at him. Brett scrubbed the towel through his hair, drying it off. He wrapped the towel around Liam’s body, both hands coming up to cradle his cheeks, swiping his thumbs over them.

He hadn’t even realised that he was crying.

“I ruined it, didn't I?” Liam whispered.

Brett scoffed. “You didn’t ruin shit.” He guided Liam back into his room, standing over him while he dried off and then helping him into his sweatpants. He pulled the covers of his bed back and Liam fell into it gratefully, snuggling into his pillow.

Heat burned into his back and he melted into it with a sigh, eyes drifting closed. Lips brushed against his neck.

“Sleep,” Brett whispered into his ear.

So he did.

***

When Liam woke up, he was facing the other way, face turned into Brett’s collarbone, both of the taller boy’s arms wrapped around him, their legs intertwined. He blushed, but couldn’t stop himself from nuzzling even closer, breathing in his scent.

“That tickles,” Brett murmured, lips pressed to the top of his head.

“Sorry,” he whispered.

He pulled away, but the arms tightened. “No,” Brett protested. Liam stilled.

His eyes opened, tracing over what little he could see of Brett’s chest and neck, his heart thundering in his chest. Brett sighed, relinquishing his hold and letting Liam create some distance between them.

Liam was slow to drag his eyes up, caught on the slight fuzz of hair that covered his chest. Brett looked amused when he finally met his gaze.

“Um,” Liam began, mind going unhelpfully blank. “You stayed.”

“I did,” Brett confirmed. “There were things that needed to be said, but you weren’t really in any condition to hear them. I couldn’t leave you on your own either. You were upset.”

Liam processed that, frowning. He was still embarrassed that he’d had a panic attack in the middle of the public pool, and right in front of Brett to boot. 

“Also I wanted to be here,” Brett added casually.

“Why?” The words were out of his mouth before he could think better of them.

Brett shrugged. “Theo was right.”

“About what?” He asked blankly.

Brett sighed. “You’re really gonna make me spell it out, aren’t you?”

Liam blinked. He was lost.

He jumped as one of Brett’s hands reached up, brushing over his cheek. “I like you, Liam. I have for a very, very long time.”

His eyes widened. “Oh,” he whispered. But even as elation filled him, the doubt was still there, clawing at his throat and making it close.

He looked down. Brett sighed again, head falling against the pillow.

“What can I do to convince you?” He asked. “Tell me what you need to believe me, and I’ll do it. Liam, I’ll do anything, I swear.”

He shrugged, shrinking in on himself. How could he articulate what he didn’t even understand?

“I don’t know,” he said helplessly. “I wish I could believe you but-”

The hand on his cheek slipped around to the back of his neck, Brett moving in closer. He hovered just out of reach, waiting. Liam could feel his breath feathering his skin, tingling against his lips.

“If you want this,” Brett whispered, their lips almost touching, “if you want to try, then you’ll close the distance. If you don’t, I’ll go, and I’ll leave you be, give you your space.”

Liam shivered. “You’d just leave?” He asked, anguish gripping his heart in a tight fist.

Brett nodded. “If that was what you needed me to do.”

“I get to choose?” He asked, eyes lidded, mind racing.

“Of course,” Brett said. “I love you, Liam. If you want me, well, I’m already yours. Always have been.”

He considered this. His mind cleared. “So Theo was right.”

“It happens on occasion,” Brett agreed, “but what is he right about this time?”

Liam cracked a smile. “Those people you hooked up with at Sinema, you were trying to make me jealous?”

Brett sighed deeply. Liam felt it against his lips and shuddered. “Yeah, and it backfired spectacularly. Turns out it just made you feel insecure instead. Mason tore into me, pointed out what an asshole I was.”

“You’re not an asshole,” Liam disagreed.

Brett’s fingers brushing his cheek were tender. “I was, I am,” he muttered. “I should have just spoken to you directly instead of playing dumb games.”

Silence fell between them, but it was more contemplative and comfortable than it had been the night before.

“So you really like me?” Liam asked.

Brett smiled. “Yeah,” he sighed.

Liam nodded. “Yeah, okay then.”

And he closed the distance between them, his lips brushing gently over Brett’s. Immediately, all of the doubt fell away. This was right. Brett’s lips moving softly against his, their chests pressed together, the feel of Brett’s fine hair against his fingertips as he buried his hand there, holding him close.

When he finally pulled away, Brett looked dazed, his lips dark as his tongue darted out, wetting them.

Liam smiled and pulled him in again.


End file.
